Trying to trace Hannah Decker nee Clark's parents.

Question

I am trying to trace the parents of my 4th Great Grandmother Hannah Clark. I know she was married in Cape Town when she was 24 or 25 in 1835 to Robert Joseph Decker and they came to Australia in 1853. According to different Ancestry family trees they say she was born in Warkwick, England but I can't find any sources to say this. I also have found what I think is her Death Registration - Victoria, Australia, Death Index, 1836-1988-

which states:

Name	Anna Deeker
Death Registration Year	1897
Death Registration Place	Victoria, Australia
Father	Clark Thos
Mother Maiden Name	Reynolds
Reference Number	749

This is the only Death registration I could find that would come close for her. I am wondering how accurate the death cert. is in regards to names? I am wondering if they put mis heard it. So then this would mean her father would be Thomas Clark and her mother was Susan Reynolds. But struggling to find any records in regards to Hannah.

Answer 1

You are justified in having misgivings about the info in the death certs. Misheard/misunderstood or poor spelling.

The cert you have for Hannah/Anna is the correct one despite children not being recorded. The info on Hannah/Anna was advised by dtr Susan who seems to have been the go-to person in a number of instances (sister Elizabeth's inquest). The spelling of Clark/e is uncertain - the marriage record in Cape Town has the name Clarke, birthplace Warwickshire, England. No ages, parents etc. Their marriage was also noted in a Cape Town newspaper, but only initials whereas most others had full first names.

Like you and despite some Warwickshire records being accessible online, unable to find anything relating to Thos' wife Susan, or Hannah's birth. The use of the names Thomas and Susan for Robt Jos and Hannah's older children tends to suggest strong possibility of them being Hannah's parents names. Just finding them is the problem. Thos noted as a farmer may help although they may have come from a neighbouring county.

This doesn't get us any closer to an answer, but little bits here and there may eventually get us over that wall.

Garry